this has probably been covered before in the forum, but I havenīt found the thread. Please patience or Iīll settle for a link.
My instints tell me the first haul should begin when Iīm picking up the line (it also helps me get it off the water), and the second haul when Iīm starting the foward cast.
But Iīve read this is better: First haul as the rod reaches vertical position right before you flip back and up, and the second haul after the foward cast has begun. This feels a lot more awkward; becaus Iīm loosing the chance to use the tension of the fly line fully extended behind me to make the tug in the second haul.
Any tips for the timing??

by the way, something I read that works for me real well is making the hauls with a fast movement
cheers and thanks

The timing of the double haul varies a bit, but lets start with the haul itself.

There are two motions - the pull and the drift.

The purpose of the pull is to increase the load in the rod beyond that which can be achieved by rod motion alone.

The purpose of the drift is to reset the hand so that it can be done again on the next loading move.

Although the timing of the pull varies - it always coincides with an increase in the loading of the rod, or it should.

We can collect some slack with the line hand to improve pick up, kind of a pre-haul. I do it all the time subconsciously. I wouldn't refer to that as the haul itself necessarily, but if you called it part of the haul I wouldn't argue as long as it's continous and there is still some room to pull/load once the line is lifted off the water.

In other words there is no reason not to slowly start the haul to lift the line and transition into the actual loading stroke with haul.

So let's conclude that a haul is not a single instantaneous event but instead it's a gradually accelerating action that parallels the casting stroke itself.

It should start slow and accelerate to a release. It should be timed to apply rod load in the proper manner, that is to say not deflect the rod too early or past it's prime.

As far as timing for the haul on the forward stroke...

Once again as long as the pull follows the principles of good casting you can pre-load a little to eliminate slack in a tail-wind but lose that percentage on the stroke load as you go. In a headwind you may let the wind straighten the backcast and save all of the haul to pierce forward at the acceleration point of the cast.

So in conclusion, the haul should be applied in parallel to proper casting load for the situation at hand.

And all along I thought the double haul was when I had to make two trips to the dump because I let the trash build up to long!

It's the only "double haul" I've been able to make the last few weeks due to blown-out rivers and honey do's! This morning we woke up to about an inch of snow................ Hope you are getting in more double hauls than I have been!

actually I should call my double hauls the "two hauls", thatīs how many times I get it right after an hour casting in the park. You donīt even wanna know how Iīm doing when Iīm actually fishing: something "magical" happens, suddenly I get amnesia and I donīt know what fly fishing and casting is about, so I start aiming flies at trees and rocks īcause I find thatīs rather fun...